On Fridays at The Harbour School, the school is more a village with small businesses and general services.

The front of The Blackeyed Susan Country Store is adorned with a rocking chair, curtains, flowers and two signs advertising the shop’s signature products — freshly popped popcorn and creamy root beer floats.

The decorations themselves are an illusion, painted onto the walls of the building. The store — and the smell of popcorn drifting down the hallway — is real, part of a weekly program students partake in to practice a variety of life skills.

At The Harbour School near Cape St. Claire and at the Monarch Academy Annapolis, murals aren’t just decorations — they play a role in education.

Annapolis-based muralist Jeff Huntington, who has worked with students for projects, said art is universally needed.

“It certainly does inspire and help kids, and that’s why we do it,” Huntington said.

Artists are working on a Chesapeake Bay-inspired mural in the cafeteria at Monarch Academy Annapolis. The murals at The Harbour School, painted by a science teacher, have been there awhile. The Harbour School serves students ages 6 to 21, and offers a program that is suited for students with learning disabilities, autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other differences.

Spectrum Studio artists paint a mural in the cafeteria of the Monarch Academy in Annapolis.

(Joshua McKerrow)

The “Village” program includes a post office, a town hall, a travel agency, a newspaper and a general store. In warmer weather, there’s even a car wash. Students get pretend money each day in exchange for meeting goals, such as accepting redirection, being respectful and completing their jobs.

Then they can spend the money buying food, drinks, goods and services.

The goal is to create a real-life environment, where students need to be independent, set goals, schedule, plan, budget, work with others and more.

The murals make things even more real for the students, program director Bryon Fracchia said.

“A classroom is just a classroom, until you make it something more,” Fracchia said. “And they also bring a life and a color to the school.”

Another popular shop is the bookstore, Bay Books, which “sells” donated items.

The doorway to Bay Books is flanked by painted bookshelves filled with tomes, a few three-dimensional book spines and a faux stained-glass sign.

At Monarch, the new public contract school is something of a blank canvas. But the walls will be gradually filled by murals. A mural at the school’s entrance shows children on a sailboat propelled by a giant monarch butterfly wing.

In the coming weeks, artists from Spectrum Studio will paint the Monarch cafeteria with scenes that portray the region’s cultural and culinary connection to the world’s largest estuary. Images will include children fishing from a dock, a nesting pelican, larger-than-life seafood and messages such as “oysters are nature’s filter” and “pesca en la bahia” which is Spanish for “fishing in the bay.”

Monarch Principal Sue Myers said they knew they wanted to paint something that celebrated some of the people who helped make Annapolis what it is today. They also always strive to add art that can be instructional, and that students can see themselves in.

Part of the mural downstairs is inspired by the work of Vince Leggett, who wrote about African-American watermen in his book, “The Chesapeake Bay Through Ebony Eyes” — something that meets both of those goals.

“It could be a springboard for a conversation on important African-Americans in our history, and what they did to shape who we are,” she said. “In our local community, it’s commerce, talking about using resources to make a living.”

The artists work on the murals throughout the day, including during lunch, when the cafeteria is filled with kids. Spectrum Studio owner Maura Dwyer painted the hands of a waterman last week, while next to her Mary Grace Corpus painted black ridges onto tire-sized oysters.

Dwyer said she used real-life photos of watermen for the mural.

“Looking for specific photos of everyday people who really do this for their job was a way to connect to students, and show them a little bit more about the history of the watermen of the Chesapeake Bay,” she said.

Artists Hanna Moran and Lindy Swan were focused on painting a giant steamed crab on the wall. Using bright orangish paint, they outlined the crab, dotted on speckles and washed a paler hue over the rest of the shell.

Painting murals is Moran’s full-time job. And by working in the school every day, she gets the chance to teach the kids one other thing — there are jobs in art, and she is living proof.

CAPTION

Jackson Dean Nicholson sang the National Anthem at the Arundel High School game Friday in Gambrills. Thousands of people have seen the video a fan posted on Facebook, and country music stations across the country reposted and commented on it.

Jackson Dean Nicholson sang the National Anthem at the Arundel High School game Friday in Gambrills. Thousands of people have seen the video a fan posted on Facebook, and country music stations across the country reposted and commented on it.

CAPTION

Jackson Dean Nicholson sang the National Anthem at the Arundel High School game Friday in Gambrills. Thousands of people have seen the video a fan posted on Facebook, and country music stations across the country reposted and commented on it.

Jackson Dean Nicholson sang the National Anthem at the Arundel High School game Friday in Gambrills. Thousands of people have seen the video a fan posted on Facebook, and country music stations across the country reposted and commented on it.

CAPTION

Midshipman Megan Viohl, from Sevena Park, discusses her assignment as a surface warfare officer after she graduates the Naval Academy.

Midshipman Megan Viohl, from Sevena Park, discusses her assignment as a surface warfare officer after she graduates the Naval Academy.

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Denise Robinson, of Odenton, searches for the grave of William H Whittington, who was the first person from Anne Arundel County to die during World War 1, while training at the Army's Camp McClellan in Alabama.

Denise Robinson, of Odenton, searches for the grave of William H Whittington, who was the first person from Anne Arundel County to die during World War 1, while training at the Army's Camp McClellan in Alabama.

CAPTION

Larry Lee Thomas, Apostle/Bishop & Senior Pastor at Empowering Believers Church of The Apostolic Faith, speaks about recent acts of racism and how he hopes the community will come together to stop it. He spoke before The United Black Clergy of Anne Arundel County meeting Friday evening at the Mount Zion – Magothy United Methodist Church regarding continuing racist incidents at Chesapeake High School.

Larry Lee Thomas, Apostle/Bishop & Senior Pastor at Empowering Believers Church of The Apostolic Faith, speaks about recent acts of racism and how he hopes the community will come together to stop it. He spoke before The United Black Clergy of Anne Arundel County meeting Friday evening at the Mount Zion – Magothy United Methodist Church regarding continuing racist incidents at Chesapeake High School.